[TPIN] orchestral trumpets sound/style/HERSETH

[Glenn Bengry]

I'm in agreement with you Mark.  I think too many committees take a good player out for cacking a note.  I still maintain that cacks are beautiful.  I'd rather hear a guy really go for something and cack, than hear a clean safe excerpt.  
 
    I also know lots of good audition players that are very mediocre section musicians/players.  I know lots of great players that wail on the gig but are not great audition players.  It is too bad there is not a way to reward these kinds of players.  They are very deserving of better fates.
 
glenn
 
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> I wouldn't blame Herseth or the Chicago school as much as the modern > audition process. If I remember the story of Herseth's audition, he > was told to go, meet and play for the conductor by his teacher. He > didn't know he was auditioning for the principal chair. I heard that > Frank Kaderabeck (sp?) had a similar experience. Fritz Reiner simply > told him "You are playing for me tomorrow" leading to him having to > play Samuel Goldenberg et. al. on a big horn. Now days, when 300 > players show up for an audition, the committee has to whittle then > number down to finalists somehow. An auditionee chips a note, he/she > is out. Auditions are run by committees. A committee with woodwinds > and strings represented will bring different biases to the decision. > I knew a trumpet player that lost an audition because the clarinetist > on the panel felt the concerto he played ( Neruda ) was "too > obscure". A hornist for the Honolulu symphony was invited to audition > for an opening with the Boston symphony a few years ago. She flew to > Boston, at her expense, went in and had a bad day, chirping a note on > one of the excerpts and hearing the "Thank you very much. NEXT." She > stayed to find out who won. After hearing around 200 hornists over > several days, the panel decided they didn't like any of them. All > those people, many already playing professionally, wasted thousands of > dollars to travel and audition for a committee that wanted > perfection. Maybe the bad old days of the dictatorial conductors > wasn't such a bad thing after all. Let the conductor make the > decision on hiring, allowing him/her to mold the orchestra to the > conductor's vision and you'll have orchestras with personality once > more.> > Mark Minasian> > > >